The company recorded a 95 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 74.7 crore for the year ended March 31, 1999, compared with Rs 38.3 crore in the previous fiscal.

The higher net profit has been partly due to the company showing the merger/demerger charges of Rs 12.4 crore and wealth-tax provision of Rs 4.5 crore in the previous year, said a release.

Sales were up by 13 per cent to Rs 747 crore, against Rs 663 crore the previous year. Profit before tax grew by 70 per cent to Rs 111.6 crore, against Rs 65.7 crore the previous year. Depreciation fell to Rs 14.2 crore, from Rs 14.5 crore.

Novartis' major businesses like crop protection and pharmaceuticals have recorded a strong performance over the previous year. Interest costs were low due to lower debt levels, said the release.

The company has incurred an expenditure of Rs 3.4 crore onY2K-compliance and detailed contingency plans are under preperation for the management of buiness operations in the event of Y2K failure by external parties. The company expects the Y2K project to be completed by September, said the release.

If the merger/demerger charges and wealth-tax provision are excluded, the company has still recorded a bottomline growth of 50.91 per cent.